Letter: Bring back Glass-Steagall

The big banks and their allied thieves have stolen more than $30 billion from state and city government treasuries through rigged interest rate "swap" agreements. They've rigged the London Interbank Offered Rate to their advantage and have unleashed their lobbyists and trade associations to intimidate and threaten reprisals against state legislators backing a return to Glass-Steagall.

These "swaps," which were sold as money-saving initiatives to dozens of public entities, have looted more than $100 million per year from each of certain state or city governments. Were government entities to attempt to cancel these agreements, they would be liable to pay the banks many times that amount in "termination fees." To make those payments, the local governments have had to cut essential social services and infrastructure.

The siege of Congress to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 puts the current Wall Street financier siege against Glass-Steagall re-enactment into perspective. The finance, insurance and real estate sectors have contributed more than $300 million to members of Congress who comprise the House Financial Services Committee.